Innovation Mixed With Historical Design
Whirlwind II at Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, Maine.
Yarrow Thorne had been searching for a while to find a way to connect with the ocean and his family’s history. He had grown up with stories about sailing, but during his childhood, “we really weren’t a boating family.” He says.
“It was very much folklore,” when it came to the family’s maritime history. “ It was always in my blood to go to sea and to learn how to sail.” He continues.
He heard stories about his grandfather building a J-boat called Whirlwind, which intrigued him greatly.
“When my grandfather passed away, I sort of took it on as a personal interest to gather any and all information about this boat.” He says.
He went to libraries when he could and delved into archives, searching for more photos and information about his family’s maritime past, especially about this boat called Whirlwind. Yet, the past remained elusive at times. “No one really knew about this boat,” he says.
At this point, Yarrow had decided that Rhode Island was a good place to put down roots. He thought that if he was going to be on the water, this would be the place to do it.
One thing you should know about Yarrow is that when he becomes interested in something, he doesn’t do it in half measures. His friend, Ezra Smith can attest to that.
Ezra is a yacht designer. He originally met Yarrow when he went back to school for an industrial design degree at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Yarrow was also studying there at the time. “He was sort of an enigma because he had these totally out there ideas,” Says Ezra. “He was definitely thinking on a different level.” He continues.
They lost contact for a couple of years, but when Yarrow moved back to Rhode Island, they crossed paths again during a night of racing International 14s on Narragansett Bay.
“Sailing with Ezra, I just really started falling in love with catboats.” Yarrow says. “ I learned through more storytelling and archival work that my dad’s great grandfather had a big cat boat that he converted to a power boat.” He continues.
“My mom was doing archival work for a book on her family and found a clipping of her grandfather sailing what looked like a catboat,” says Yarrow. He showed the picture to Ezra who said that it looked like a Gil Smith catboat.
“So I started to do more research on it and got really interested in this phantom builder.” Yarrow says. “Just deep down, I wanted to find something that could steer the next 10,15, 20 years of my life.” He continues.
Yarrow wanted a project that would bring him closer to the sea, and ultimately, his research into Gil Smith would lead him there.
He learned that Gil Smith started building boats in 1876 in Long Island. The purpose of these boats was to take oyster and clam tongers of Great South and Shinnecock Bays to and from the banks where they found their product as quickly as possible. They were shallow draft boats, wide and with beautiful lines. As the oyster and clam industry dried up, the wealthy moving in from New York City began to take an interest in Gil’s boats. After all, they were fast and beautiful to look at. They soon became the racing boat of the times.
Soon Ezra and Yarrow were on a quest to find the perfect Gil Smith catboat. Yarrow settled on a 26-foot catboat design. She was to be called Whirlwind II in honor of Yarrow’s great-grandfather. Ezra has just finished doing a project with Alec Brainerd of Artisan Boatworks up in Maine and knew he would be the right boatbuilder for the job.
Ezra and Yarrow found one boat that stood out: Mariam, a boat Gil had built for himself and named after his wife, who also made all the sails for the boat.
“There were no drawings.” Says Ezra. “He didn’t do any drawings, everything he built was from half hull models.” He continues. They found out that the half hull for that boat still existed and was at the Suffolk County Historical Society in New York. The duo headed down to get the dimensions of the half hull, which they then made into a 3D computer model.
They did find plans for Miriam in a magazine from 1890, but soon realized that the hull lines in the article were completely wrong and the rudder was the wrong shape.
“The one thing we don't know -- because the original boat is gone forever --- is whether Gill Smith followed his model” Says Ezra. “When they have the stuff out on the floor, they make tweaks.” He continues. “And here was the case where the designer was the builder,” which meant he could do all the tweaks he liked during the building process.
When Alec started building the boat, there were a few things that didn’t look right to him. They went back to the photos they had taken of the half hull model to see where they might have gone wrong.
So Alec did what any traditional boat builder would have done, he lofted it and wherever he saw any unfairness, he adjusted.
“In wooden boat building, there is a ton of that.” Ezra says. Unlike modern boat building where iteration after iteration is run through a computer program to ensure every part of the boat is exactly how it should be, before there is anything physical to show for an actual boat.
“For the most part the boat is very accurate to the model that we did,” Says Ezra.
Another thing that was vital with the building of this boat was getting it aesthetically 100 percent correct. Ezra says that with the following that these boats have, the pressure was on to ensure that it looked as beautiful as the boats Gil Smith himself produced. “You can’t get it wrong.” Says Ezra.
Once the hull was taking shape, the next decision that needed to be made was what sort of rig would Whirlwind II have?
It was decided that a carbon fiber rig, while not traditional in any sense, would make the boat easier to sail.
Oliver and Sam Moore are the directors of the Moore Brothers Company in Bristol, Rhode Island. They too had met Yarrow sailing International 14s. The brothers had originally started their company to build custom skis, but were soon approached by a mentor to take over his composites company, through which they inherited numerous clients in the marine industry.
Since moving their company out of their garage in 2017, the Moore brothers now also have clients in the air and space industry, as well as the car industry and ship all over the world to their loyal maritime customers. Ezra has worked with the Moore Brothers on numerous projects over the years and when it came to Whirlwind II, “Ezra knew that the carbon mast was the right thing for it.” Says Oliver.
The designing of the mast has been a work in progress, constantly changing to overcome certain problems. One of the more recent issues to resolve is how to step the mast without using a crane. They have decided on a tabernacle mast, which will allowYarrow to trailer and sail the boat with relative ease. With this design, comes the complication of scaling it for a 26-foot boat, but Oliver seemed confident that through talks with Ezra, they have fixed the problem.
One of the next issues to contend with is the sail. “The sailmaker doesn’t use computer design software,” says Oliver, but that too would be dealt with in due time and through more traditional means of boatbuilding and sailmaking.
“I really like the rebirth of classic sailing with the mixture of modern technology,” Says Oliver.
“Back in its day the Gil Smith catboats were totally cutting edge. They were using the most modern stuff out there and they were pushing the limits of what was possible with modern technology and so I think it is fitting to add some of that back into it.”
Oliver believes that this isn’t just a piece of artwork being created, this is a boat being built to be used.
As the project was taking shape, Yarrow involved another sailor into the mix: Tim Fallon. “I’m involved because I had done something similar in the past.” Says Tim, who built a 28-foot catboat. “It is a design from the 1890s and early 1900s that we essentially recreated, so something very similar to what Yarrow is doing.” He says.
Tim met Yarrow through Ezra, who he had sailed with often. “When I built our boat, no one really had experience in building this type of boat,” He says. “There is no one really alive to talk to about sailing a giant catboat like that.”
Tim understood the complexities of the project that lay ahead for Yarrow. The number one issue being finding a way to remain authentic to the design of the catboat, but using modern materials to make the boat easier to sail.
“They wouldn’t have built the boat cold-molded 100 years ago and certainly not with a carbon mast.” Tim says. But, at the same time Tim believes that Gil Smith would have used the most modern technology and materials available to him, so why not?
Tim’s philosophy is to build the boat so that it can be enjoyed. He had chosen to build a catboat because of how speedy the boats were, as well as the beam, which not only makes the boat more spacious, but gives the owner more bang for their buck at marinas, which generally charge by length.
Yarrow is not entirely sure what Whirlwind II’s purpose will be once she hits the water. For now, he is enjoying the process of building her, overcoming the issues with her design and build, and mixing the modern with the old. It seems that for Yarrow, as with most of his projects, the process and how it brings people together is more important than the end product.
After all, this project has brought together so many people, many of whom would never have met, never mind worked together, had it not been for a great story about a boat.